Morning Brief 4.6.20: Fitbit expands support for contactless payments

The information you need to start your day, from PaymentsSource and around the web:

Non contact sport

Fitbit's new wristband includes contactless payments as standard, boosting access for what had been a premium feature.

The Charge 4 has Fitbit's prepaid wallet, with a chip that supports cards for more than 500 issuers, nearly three dozen countries and about a dozen transit systems. The new device is listed at $149.95.

Fitbit has been gradually adding payments technology and picking up support from card issuers. Contactless payments have also been on the rise as the coronavirus has expanded in recent weeks.

Small biz outreach

Shortly after expanding its grocery delivery business, UberEats has added an in-app donation button for consumers to contribute to a favorite location restaurant.

The ride-sharing company has also waived delivery fees for independent restaurants during the coronavirus pandemic, reports The Verge.

Other technology firms have made similar moves to streamline funds to small businesses. Instagram's founders, for example, recently set up a gift card portal to link consumers to local businesses; and other fintechs have enabled small businesses to sell gift cards to generate revenue while closed.

On Target

The European Central Bank, The Eurosystem and Sveriges Riksbank have enabled Swedish access to Eurosystem's instant payment network.

Called Target, the Eurosystem rail will hook up with RIX-INST, Sweden's instant payment system, explains Finextra. This will allow digital payments made in Swedish krona to be settled on the Eurosystem platform.

There's a long window for the migration, as transactions will be cleared starting in May 2022. But it comes amid several other instant payment projects in Europe. The European Banking Federation, The European Association of Co-operative Banks and the European Savings and Retail Banking Group are forming a five-year plan to streamline payment rails to help the continent's economy recover from the pandemic, Finextra reports.

Bigger screen

U.K. payments fintech Monzo has been inching closer to banking, adding incentives to its billing gateway and premium accounts with extra service in recent months.

Monzo is adding a feature that centralizes its billing and payment services on a laptop after finding out some tasks were easier to execute on a computer than a mobile device.

The computer-friendly features include copy and paste features for payment details, as well as supporting multiple screens to render transaction information next to accounting software.

From the web

Open banking fintech Yapily raises $13M Series ATECHCRUNCH | Mon April 6, 2020Yapily, one of a number of fintech startups that offer an opening banking API to let enterprises, such as financial service providers and merchants, connect to banks, has raised $13 million in Series A funding. Specifically, it provides a way to retrieve financial data and initiate payments via a “single secure API” that in turn connects to each supported bank’s open API.

ShapeShift Enables US-Based Customers to Buy Crypto With Debit CardCOINTELEGRAPH | Fri April 3, 2020Switzerland-based crypto exchange, ShapeShift, has enabled its United States-based customers to buy Bitcoin and Ethereum with a debit card in the new exchange’s platform. ShapeShift’s new platform doesn’t require account verification to purchase cryptocurrencies, which has led to questions.

Sweden’s cashless society dream isn’t all it’s cracked up to beWIRED | Mon April 6, 2020Recent attempts by both Riksbank and Sweden’s Parliament to shape the country’s cash-free future marks a shift in attitude. Many Swedes might have already decided they prefer a future dominated by digital payments but the country’s institutions are trying to have more of a say in what exactly that future will look like.